A senior Tory backbencher failed to guarantee that Kemi Badenoch will be party leader at the next election.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who sits on the influential 1922 committee, said whether or not Mrs Badenoch would be in charge would depend on “how she performs over the next few months”.
The MP added that she “just isn’t getting the coverage” she needs to resurrect the party after its historic defeat last year and needs “a little bit more space” to perform over the coming months.
Sir Geoffrey told the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News on Sunday: “Inevitably, after the catastrophic defeat that we had in last July’s general election, it was going to be a really tough job for the first year or two.
“So her job is to gradually not only come up with some policies, but actually start to get on the media. And she does that where she can. But of course, at the moment, other things are happening, and she just isn’t getting the coverage.”
Asked whether he thought Mrs Badenoch would be party leader going into the next election, he said: “She’s got a lot of what it takes. She’s brave, she’s bright, she’s gutsy.
“She just needs to actually start to bang the drum a little bit more and actually show what the Conservative Party really stands for.”
Kemi Badenoch has been the leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024 – Jamie Lorriman
A senior Tory backbencher failed to guarantee that Kemi Badenoch will be party leader at the next election.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who sits on the influential 1922 committee, said whether or not Mrs Badenoch would be in charge would depend on “how she performs over the next few months”.
The MP added that she “just isn’t getting the coverage” she needs to resurrect the party after its historic defeat last year and needs “a little bit more space” to perform over the coming months.
Sir Geoffrey told the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News on Sunday: “Inevitably, after the catastrophic defeat that we had in last July’s general election, it was going to be a really tough job for the first year or two.
“So her job is to gradually not only come up with some policies, but actually start to get on the media. And she does that where she can. But of course, at the moment, other things are happening, and she just isn’t getting the coverage.”
Asked whether he thought Mrs Badenoch would be party leader going into the next election, he said: “She’s got a lot of what it takes. She’s brave, she’s bright, she’s gutsy.
“She just needs to actually start to bang the drum a little bit more and actually show what the Conservative Party really stands for.”
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When prompted for an answer a second time, Sir Geoffrey said “I’ve no idea”, and added: “I think it depends on how she performs over the next few months. Every month that goes on, she should be getting better. We’ll see after the party conference.”
The chairman of the 1922 committee, Bob Blackman, plays a central role in the removal and appointment of Conservative Party leaders. If a Tory MP wants a new leader of the party, they write to the head of the 1922 committee to say they have no confidence in the incumbent.
Under current rules, 15 per cent of Conservative MPs have to write letters for a vote to be triggered. With the party currently standing at 120 members, 18 would need to write. There would then be a vote of all party MPs, and if a majority said they had no confidence in their leader, a leadership contest would be held.
Sir Geoffrey told GB News: “I didn’t get the impression before the parliamentary break that there was a level of dissatisfaction that would warrant letters going in.
“I think we’ve really got to wait and see, give her a little bit more space, give her a little bit of airtime over the party conference and see how that all shakes out.”
The veteran MP said that Mrs Badenoch had “got what it takes” to be the leader who takes the Tories into the next election.
“She’s got some good people in her Shadow Cabinet. Get them out and about in the country a bit more, and really start banging that drum and start having some policies to oppose what this Government is getting wrong in the economy, on immigration, on health.
“There’s a lot of things going wrong in this country, sadly, at the moment,” he added.
There have been some concerns in Tory circles about Mrs Badenoch’s performance as leader.
It emerged last month that party membership had fallen during her tenure, and the Conservatives are regularly polling beneath Labour and Reform UK.
Nigel Farage’s party continuing to surge in popularity has seen a haemorrhaging of support for the Tories.
The latest YouGov poll last week put Reform on 28 per cent, Labour at 21 per cent and the Conservatives on 17 per cent.
But Mrs Badenoch has in recent weeks made moves to reinvigorate her team. Last month, she appointed Sir James Cleverly, her former leadership rival, to her front bench.
The former home secretary, who has been appointed to the housing brief and will be taking on Angela Rayner, warned last month against ousting another party leader.
He said that the Tories tried having a new leader “a number of times in the last government – it did not end well”.
